Damien Jurado at the Brudenell in Leeds. Another artist I never thought I'd see live! Great performance at a great venue, met the man himself afterwards and he was the perfect gent, always nice when you meet someone you have admired for so long and they live up to expectations so to speak

Great evening hosted by Sonic Cathedral. These guys are worth seeing, they played and loud. Great grooves and just a tornado of fuzz and feedback. The opening band Great Swans another Bristolian band were excellent. Andy Bell backed it up DJing between sets with some great music and some unreleased tunes that he has been working on.

Enjoyed the Heads in Manchester i would say it was very very good rather than mind blowing, but just getting a chance to see so many friends and share stories whilst having a good old booze up made the night one to remember.
Top night

Got to be said this blew my expectations away as the guy was absolutely fantastic. I wondered how he'd perform the slightly electronic sounding songs but his 5 piece band embraced every tune that came their way and nailed everything. I can honestly say every song was great and Steve's soft-textured voice sounded quite brilliant. He was also pretty funny between songs and there was a really nice atmosphere all over the place. Lots of stuff from his excellent new Meet The Humans album which I know pretty well, and at times the band cranked it up into a glorious throbbing rhythmical engine that completely enveloped you. The final song took me back to Happy Mondays gigs in the late 80s, like a shimmering rave groover which bounced along infectiously and built into an amazing glittering climax that you just didn't want to stop. Always a great thing when a performance exceeds what you think is possible. A truly fabulous set, a great band behind it and an outstanding vocalist and leader running it all. Really exceptional. And great to see my old mates Mr & Mrs BVCP206 of course - always a pleasure!

Yes Runcible truly wonderful concert. superb atmosphere and a perfect setlist. Sounds was incredible and the banter between Steve/Band and the crowd just added to the feelgood vibe, Come To Me was my personal highlight but every single track hit the mark Catch him live if you can.

First night of tour, few hiccups here and there but it was a wonderful show all told. His previous have shown glimpses of genius but not an hour plus sets worth. No he has a truly outstanding album and the quality of the man shone right through, noticeable how good his voice is these days as well.
REally enjoyable

Set was
1) Oh My Lord
2) Another day
3) Seen It all Before
4) A Lot of Love
5) Like Water
6) Never Be Alone
7) Ran Away Is The Love Still There...??? (not sussed out what this one was yet)
9) Alive
10) Hardly Go Through
11) Fire
12) Come To Me

Explosions In The Sky at the RAH London. Great gig,my first time for these. Lots of crescendos and great climaxes,distorted guitar and drums. I just wish it could have been at a smaller venue, which always feels and sounds more intimate, should have gone for the Brighton Dome gig,anyway just glad to have caught up with them eventually.

I had similar concerns as Brokenheart about the size of some of the venues on this tour, decided to go for Bristol as it was on a saturday night. very nice city, I must say. having a beer while enjoying the sunshine was great. very nice venue too.

I must say, I am not feeling the new album and I've given it a fair few listens. people say that the band are a bit samey, this was true on the last record which was just more of the same. They have changed direction on the new one, and it's not really convincing me. They are kind of damned if they do, damned if they don't.

The live show, however, was still tremendous. I have seen them 4 times now and it slips into 2nd place (don't think they'll ever top the show I saw at the tiny Brighton Concorde 2).

The differences between the old and new stuff was less jarring than I thought it would be. The new stuff at least has some new textures and sounds in there, Munaf was almost doing a shoegaze thing with the whammy bar at one point, and there's more piano. but the new tunes don't have those big epic gripping moments that they do so well.

I think for all their limitations, what the band have over others of their ilk is that the music is so emotive and often beautiful. They are not trying to be enigmatic or arty or whatever, they are just trying to connect and express emotions, even using 10 minute songs with no words. I think this is what raises them above their imitators too.
the set was a rollercoaster ride, as always all the songs are strung together with not a moment of silence in between (wish Spiritualized still did this).

It's not like they can't crank up the volume, either. when it got loud it really kicked in nicely. the final song was Memorial and they really pounded the hell out of the guitars at the crescendo, then good night- no encore.

Setlist:

Infinite Orbit
Tangle Formations
The Only Moment We Were Alone
Greet Death
The Ecstatics
Let Me Back In
Disintegration Anxiety
Colors in Space
The Birth and Death of the Day
Logic of a Dream
Memorial

Woven Skull last weekend in Birmingham. there was a bit of a debate about which gig to go to, as my friend wanted to see Blood Ceremony at the Rainbow, however I overruled her

Bonnacons of Doom (who have played Liverpool Psych Fest a few times, they are the fellas in long robes who play heavy doom psych) were supporting but sadly didn't get there in time to see their set.

Woven Skull were excellent. it's very hard to classify them but they are an Irish band who play a kind of folky drone music. it gets surprisingly heavy at times too. the guitarist plays in an open tuning and they just build and build with the drummer and what I think is some kind of lute thing. you get all the overtones ringing out. great stuff.
the venue was a bit strange- in a tiny yard behind the pub but still with quite a meaty PA. it was one of those gigs where looking at the audience, it just seems like local people who have decided to check out the live music that's playing (whatever it might be) rather than people who follow the band.

Saw Pearl Jam at MSG last week.
Sat next to a couple from England.
It was their last night of their 6 day holiday.
Pretty cool.
I asked them if they knew who Spiritualized was and they had no idea.
They also had no interest in smoking my ganja.

saw Cate le Bon last night at Schuba's (tiny place that fits about 200 people snugly) and it was on-point to say the least! Not sure how to describe her music, in some ways it reminds me of that repetitive futuristic-retro feeling that one gets from Stereolab mixed with a raw sort of guitar skronk and her beautifully detached delivery. She played most of her excellent new record 'Crab Day' as well as several from 'Mug Museum' (nothing from 'CYRK,' though, which is kind of a shame).

Not sure if anyone who posts here is a fan of hers, but it's definitely worth catching her live if she comes through your town.

4th time seeing this band. not really much I can add to my previous reviews really, they put on a great show, sounding meaty and quite loud. they've got the trademark Chameleons guitar sound spot on and the tight rhythm section drives it all along.
setlist was a nice mixture (however in the beginning they did play the first 3 songs from Script of The Bridge in order, which led me to think it may be an impromptu full album show!) and finished on a great version of Nostalgia. There was one song I didn't recognise which was probably an EP track or something.
to be honest though it was kind of more of the same- prob my fault for seeing them so many times.

the real surprise was the support band Evil Blizzard. Sunray I think you saw them at the psych fest? file under 'you don't see that every day'. pretty bizarre.- the lineup has 4 bassplayers and they all wear strange masks. it was weird though as I was still hearing some guitar-like sounds coming out including wah wah work etc. they ran the risk of being gimmicky but they actually rocked pretty hard with some tight riffing.

Wonderful show, Lovelife virtually totally ignored as 7 tracks from the career highlight (for me) of Split and a ruck of ep and 1st album tracks. 20 song set which covered so many bases, shoegazey, dreamlike almost, and then every now and then a bloody good toe tapper got everyone dancing, plus I love Emma guitar sound and playing in general. New drummer former Elastica sticksman was superb and really worked the kit. Miki's voice was top draw and I just thought the whole thing was bloody marvelous

angelsighs wrote: the real surprise was the support band Evil Blizzard. Sunray I think you saw them at the psych fest? file under 'you don't see that every day'. pretty bizarre.- the lineup has 4 bassplayers and they all wear strange masks. it was weird though as I was still hearing some guitar-like sounds coming out including wah wah work etc. they ran the risk of being gimmicky but they actually rocked pretty hard with some tight riffing.

I did indeed. One of my highlights actually. The records don't have the same impact at all but definitely worth checking out live.

Did they have the guy in a butcher's apron with filthy rags wrapped around his head like a mummy? At LPF he was pushing a mop around the stage but he would occasionally stop, stare, and point at someone in the audience and then give them the fingers

don't remember any mops being pushed around..! there were some weird signs being held up that I think referred to football. had trouble making head or tail of what was going on, but yeah.. they rocked!
one of them did the classic rock move of climbing on top of the PA stack

yeah, I can imagine they are one of those bands that are all about the live show. I enjoyed it but didn't feel the need to investigate the records

Went to see Quilt last night. Had previously seen a bit of them supporting Luna in LA and was not so impressed, but last night in Manchester they were superb. Recommend giving them a watch if they're around your city, top dream pop (I guess you'd called it that) and pretty tight live these days.

I really wanted to go to Quilt show, but with me heading back down to London (again) the missus was less than impressed with the idea. So had to swerve it, which is a shame as they sound great on record. Was there a decent turnout James ?

I finally saw Dungen and they didn't disappoint. Killer fuzz tones, beautiful harmonies, piano/organ, awesome rhythm section. Everything in place and executed perfectly. I was surprised at how similar the live show sounded to the records. Super impressive. Recommended.

I finally saw Dungen and they didn't disappoint. Killer fuzz tones, beautiful harmonies, piano/organ, awesome rhythm section. Everything in place and executed perfectly. I was surprised at how similar the live show sounded to the records. Super impressive. Recommended.

this is music to my ears. I've never seen them live and always wondered if they could capture their particular sound outside the studio. really can't wait to see them at Liverpool Psych Fest later in the year.

Father John Misty at the Roundhouse in London.
This one had me a bit star struck and in awe for a good while during the show. The man has star quality, charisma, sex appeal, cool moves and an amazing voice and equally amazing band. The Misty love was strong in the Roundhouse. A near two hour show. Add in great lights, a ticker tape explosion raining down on us all, bubbles blowing out and even some perfumed air at one point and it was the kind of gig that leaves a huge grin on your face and a warmth in your gut (and loins). He gets a bad rep for being a dick in some quarters but I don't see many dicks spending 20 mins after the show wandering the front row hugging people, kissing hands, shaking hands, sharing photos and smiles. I've never seen anyone do it actually. One very special evening.

TheWarmth wrote:angelsighs: Yeah, I have the new Dungen and love it. I always buy their albums upon release.

agreed- new Dungen albums are an essential purchase for me. they are managing that trick of developing their sound just a little on each album, rather than making the same record over and over again.
I just love how the albums sound- the way the guitars and drums are produced reminds me all sorts of stuff I love, e.g. Jimi Hendrix Experience and Soft Machine. but they've got their own thing going on too- apparently there's a lot of Swedish folk music in there. and there's definitely some songwriting and arranging chops going on too.
I must admit the only one I don't love is 'Skit i Allt' I thought that went a bit too far in the soft folky direction. it was a bit light and fluffy. new one is superb though.

I think I first heard about the band on this very message board, when Tio Bitar came out.

Tim Gane's post Stereolab project has taken the krautrock and motorik elements of the best parts of Stereolab and worked it into a really impressive live set, all instrumental. The opening track Tardis Cymbals was absolutely fantastic and went through endless little sections while constantly focusing on the rotating rhythm and guitar effects on show. Most of the set was like this - chugging drum patterns from ex-Lab bloke Joe Dilworth and bleeps, bass and more from synth chap Holger Zapf - although a couple of more electronica tunes appeared which were Ok but slightly less interesting. But I'm being picky here - the were tremendous and really cranked things up in tracks like Kool Boy Narcosis which featured Tim's guitar going into mega fuzz and crunch overdrive. That guy's ability with a guitar is still really impressive and at times it was like the finer Stereolab shows I saw 25 years ago. The Brudenell's superb sound system really showcased the music, but it was Nathan on the desk and he knows that set up inside out. Brilliant night all round, great bopping and enthusiastic crowd and smiles all over. Highly recommended.

I have developed a potentially very, very expensive obsession with CoAM. Their first LP is £100+ if you can find a copy and the various singles aren't cheap either. I'm really ridiculously excited about seeing them at LPF in September. I should know better at my age....

A trio of amazing bands on in Sleazys on a Saturday night. 30 people tops (incl barstaff and bands members) so really disappointing but the bands came on stage and played like the place was packed. Helicon are a real gem of a band. Lovely guys, who have really nailed the doomy jammy noise thing. Great every time i see them.
Tau, who have a connection with Dead Skeletons, were suprisingly very different. Acoustic guitar/pedals and percussion gave a great folky/tribal thing going on while built up in fabulous mantras. Nice contrast to Helicon's noise.
I had so much anticipation and expectation of Kikagaku Moyo after their stellar Manchester show a few years ago and the were just... AWESOME!! They get such a groove on and can jam right out with the best of them and pull it all back for more quieter tunes so effortlessly that its like one big long jammin song. Perfect end to the night!

A trio of amazing bands on in Sleazys on a Saturday night. 30 people tops (incl barstaff and bands members) so really disappointing but the bands came on stage and played like the place was packed. Helicon are a real gem of a band. Lovely guys, who have really nailed the doomy jammy noise thing. Great every time i see them.
Tau, who have a connection with Dead Skeletons, were suprisingly very different. Acoustic guitar/pedals and percussion gave a great folky/tribal thing going on while built up in fabulous mantras. Nice contrast to Helicon's noise.
I had so much anticipation and expectation of Kikagaku Moyo after their stellar Manchester show a few years ago and the were just... AWESOME!! They get such a groove on and can jam right out with the best of them and pull it all back for more quieter tunes so effortlessly that its like one big long jammin song. Perfect end to the night!

Awesome night, good meeting up with Gary and a few other friends too.

Next up, BJM!

Really looking forward to seeing Kikagaku Moyo tonight in Brighton and so pleased they are part of this year's Liverpool Psych Fest line-up. Talking of which, are you coming along to that this year Laz?

Kikagaku Moyo were absolutely incredible last night. Went on a date night with Mrs Shines and she was equally impressed. Like the rest of the UK dates, Tau supported. They were good but a bit samey after a few songs and I could take or leave them really. Kikagaku Moyo though are the real deal....fantastic musicians who can create quiet, atmospheric, sitar driven soundscapes and then hit you hard with a total rock out. I went crazy on the merch stall, picking up the latest album (clear vinyl with blue blob if you were wondering BZA ) which the band signed, Euro/UK tour poster and a t-shirt each for me and Mrs Shines. Will definitely ensure I catch them again at Liverpool Psych Fest regardless of who they clash with. Up there with some of the best gigs I've seen. If you're in to modern psych or not, you really need to hear/see these guys. Such enthusiasm and talent, they are fantastic.

Shinesalight wrote:Really looking forward to seeing Kikagaku Moyo tonight in Brighton and so pleased they are part of this year's Liverpool Psych Fest line-up. Talking of which, are you coming along to that this year Laz?

I'm afraid not. Nothing really grabbed my attention in the initial line ups and i've been very fortunate for all the gigs i've managed to attend already this year so i'm just gonna make the most of those. Will have seen all the bands i really want from the line up over the course of this year anyway i think so i'll accept that.

A chat with a lovely lady at the Kikagaku show on Saturday tipped me off to another great show thats heading our way later in the year (not allowed to say as its all rather secret supposedly) so thats will be good and there is usually a flurry of shows nearer the LPF weekend too as bands hit the UK.

Shinesalight wrote:Kikagaku Moyo were absolutely incredible last night...I went crazy on the merch stall, picking up the latest album (clear vinyl with blue blob if you were wondering BZA ) which the band signed, Euro/UK tour poster and a t-shirt each for me and Mrs Shines. Will definitely ensure I catch them again at Liverpool Psych Fest regardless of who they clash with. Up there with some of the best gigs I've seen. If you're in to modern psych or not, you really need to hear/see these guys. Such enthusiasm and talent, they are fantastic.

Haha!! Good on ya. Will need to check these guys out, they sound pretty special...

runcible wrote:That guy's ability with a guitar is still really impressive and at times it was like the finer Stereolab shows I saw 25 years ago.

I really enjoyed the original, more guitar-y Stereolab too. Remember loving seeing them at the T&C2 when Sean O'Hagan was still in the band, then being quite disappointed a year or so later when they played at the Clapham Grand after he'd left and it had gone more 'easy listening'.

I was a huge McCarthy fan as well. Must dig out Banking, Violence and the Inner Life Today sometime...

Saw Malcolm Middleton last night, incredibly enjoyable show despite his new pop album not being entirely convincing. Band were pretty tight, did an acoustic set for an encore which was lovely as ever. Always been a big fan (love Arab Strap obviously), never disappoints live. He was almost in a good mood.

Really looking forward to Friday, setlist was superb again last night. My only worry is my seats, although top price and I bought them pre-sale, they appear to be at a very narrow angle to left of the stage. If so, I'll not be a happy chap! But when am I?

You may have a problem seeing the piano, but then again you might be able to see in behind whatever was obstructing the view last night (stack of amps I think, might've been the big screen). The piano wasn't used very often mind. The stage is cluttered with various instruments too. But aside from a couple of numbers he's front & centre.
The big screen footage is actually terrific, seems to have a dedicated camera crew filming it & broadcasting it. The screens are done like an old to set, it looked really cool. But the footage was exceptional, they knew every cue & where to point the cameras, hopefully a dvd release down the line.

There was a run of songs in the middle of the set that just blew me away, I'm still putting the pieces of my mind back together trying to fathom it. He did the skynrd baiting Alabama & Walk On back-to-back which I really enjoyed then he just took it to a whole other level. Great guy, wish I was going back tonight.

I see he played Hold Back The Tears, which I really love, as well as Roll Another Number late on. Love that he is mixing up the set a lot, though I hope he keeps Comes a Time in the opening section cause it's my pap's favourite track and I'm taking him!

Julianna Barwick at the Pickle Factory London. Lots of celestial loops , with great highs and lows of emotions. Greatly complimented by the cellist Maarten Vos . Very attentive crowd , which made a very pleasant change.

Just got home from seeing the Cure- it was quite a show (I've never seen them put on a bad show, come to think of it)!

Very lengthy, generous setlist filled with surprises even for someone like me who's seen them a million times. They played 'This Twilight Garden' which is my favorite b-side of theirs- I'd known they had played it on this tour, but it seems they haven't been doing it very often.

One thing I've noticed for this tour- they seem to pick a sort of album theme every night. One night they'll do a 'Disintegration' theme and start with 'Plainsong' and 'Pictures of You' and play pretty much the whole thing. Another night they'll do most of 'Wish,' last night I think they did a lot off of 'The Top,' 'Head on the Door' and 'Kiss Me...' Tonight they played about half of 'Bloodflowers' which is kind of interesting because the last time I saw them here in Chicago was during this week in 2000 for the 'Bloodflowers' tour (it might even have been the same date- I'd have to check)- I traveled around seeing a bunch of those shows because it seemed like a good time to do that. So hearing them do 'Out of this World,' '39,' 'The Last Day of Summer' and the title track was a big deal for me- not sure if many others had the same experience, but I loved it and the band tore through them with the same vigor as they did back then. I hadn't realized that it's mostly the same core group from that tour (with Reeves Gabrels on guitar being the only difference).

Other than that they played most of what you'd expect, every big, crowd-pleasing single you can think of and the two often-discussed new songs, which were both quite good, actually! A few that they played that I'd never heard them do- 'High,' 'Burn,' 'This Twilight Garden,' 'The Caterpillar,' 'Hot Hot Hot!!!' and, (strangely enough) 'The Walk.'

There were four encores- the last two were all made up of singles.

I know a few people were thinking of going to catch them on this tour and I would definitely encourage you to do so. I wanted to go to the show last night as well, but with as steeply priced as the tickets are I figured I might settle for one night. I'm glad I did, too, because of the two nights this was the one I'm glad I picked.

Scorching hot day, last minute announcement of no support and a 3 hour set from BJM. Whats not to love?!?!?!

I was worried that they may struggle to fill the Barras after their last visit to Glasgow, but its was prety full in the end. Not rammed, but full enough.

They took a little while to get their momentum up, but another great, solid set from Anton and co. No outrageous behaviour, Anton on good form and some banter with the audience inbetween some of the later songs. Anton had a go at the keyboard player after he stopped one of the songs due to him playing out of key but that was quickly forgotten about as they ran through so many classics. Enrique's guitar playing was phenomenal to watch... he really is such a great musician and he brought a lot of the noise to the evening, but the whole band were in great form. Spent most of the show grinning from ear to ear.

Only downside was that i didn't have much cash on me as they had a pile of t-shirts in different colours (£15 i think) and what looked like every BJM album on vinyl at the fan-friendly price of £10 a piece... if i'd known, i'd have been carrying a load of them home!

I heard there were some real Dig! tossers at the Newcastle show - throwing beer and one group intimidating various people throughout. A mate of mine got caught up in a potential scuffle because of these twats. I've been put off going to see BJM on the last few occasions as the audience is so unpleasant, but this was a miles worse than any occasion my friend - who has seen them at least 30 times - has ever encountered. I hope it's more mellow in Leeds tonight!

The Kills and Iggy Pop at the Isle of Wight festival + a great new trio called Yak.
Field Day Festival,Victoria Park London. The Fat White Family, Brian Jones town Massacre, Goat,The Duke Spirit,John Grant, Moon Duo, Beach House and PJ Harvey , phew !
A few clashes but delicious sets from BJM and Moon Duo + the madness and edge of The Fat White Family. Can't wait to see BJM again soon.

BROKENHEART wrote:The Kills and Iggy Pop at the Isle of Wight festival + a great new trio called Yak.
Field Day Festival,Victoria Park London. The Fat White Family, Brian Jones town Massacre, Goat,The Duke Spirit,John Grant, Moon Duo, Beach House and PJ Harvey , phew !
A few clashes but delicious sets from BJM and Moon Duo + the madness and edge of The Fat White Family. Can't wait to see BJM again soon.

I was at Field Day too, great day wasn't it. First time of going for me and it's a bit of a bargain for around £50. Got to see Tangerines, Parquet Courts (very cool), Fat White Family (loved them and the feeling of it all exploding at any minute), bit of BJM before heading off to get at the front for Goat (a highlight), two songs of Beach House before realising they were a bit dull and I needed a Moon Duo boogie, PJ Harvey who was quite majestic. Brilliant day all in all.

Television- Electric Brixton, London.
a band I've wanted to see for a long time, never quite managed to make it happen so thought I would just bite the bullet and make the trip to London for them. Ideally it would be the full lineup with Richard Lloyd, but Jimmy Ripp has been Tom's righthand man for years now so he is the obvious choice to take his place. He handled all the guitar interplay with aplomb- not just some random session muso.

The support act was okay- can't remember her name now to be honest, a singer songwriter with a nice enough voice and did a sweet cover of the Velvets Sunday Morning.

After a frankly interminable wait (and listening to the classical piano piece they were playing through the PA- very un-rock and roll!) Verlaine and Co finally sauntered on stage around 9:15. as to be expected, there is little sense of a show here and very little banter from Tom (who at times could even be accused of phoning it in a bit, particularly on the songs they've probably played a million times). It took them a couple of songs to warm up I think- they opened with Prove It and it didn't sound too great. also the sound was a bit weedy, after some shouts from the crowd to turn it up, it stepped up a gear (not after Tom stopping a song halfway through and saying the bass rumble in the room was putting him off).

The setlist was mainly Marquee Moon focussed, as you can imagine. Torn Curtain was a nice surprise and See No Evil rocked. a highlight for me though was '1880 or So' from the self titled album- lots of extra soloing really took the song to another level. The Marquee Moon title track was predictably stunning, still one of the greatest extended guitar tracks ever in my opinion.
In terms of unrecorded songs they played Persia which was a long proggy workout with soloing over the top in eastern scales- good to see them stretch out, but you can't help but wonder that this time could have been used for 2 or 3 other songs. and I'm Gonna Find You which apparently dates from the Richard Hell era and was an almost soul/doowop kinda thing.

Tom's voice was also surprisingly good- I had kind of accepted that his voice is basically shot now, but he did okay.
Overall it was a good rather than stunning show. despite all the acts they have influenced, there still is no band quite like Television. they must be one of the few guitar bands who play clean and dry with very little effects. it's all about how the instruments lock in together. Billy Ficca is also an amazing drummer- so many weird fills and rhythms. The setlist could have been better for me though (I think they should play more stuff from Adventure which could help its unfairly maligned reputation) and some songs came across better than others.